Southwest Goes South to Mexico

According to an article on Jaunted.com this week, Southwest Airlines is teaming up with Volaris, a discount Mexican carrier, to send passengers to Mexico. "Starting on November 12 you can visit Southwest’s website to book tickets through a codeshare agreement to places like Cancun, Mexico City, and Guadalajara.", the article states. Great news from my perspective, as you can link up from Guadalajara or Mexico City to any sunny beach destination in Mexico such as Los Cabos, La Paz, and Puerto Vallarta, among others. Southwest/Volaris will also fly you directly to Cancun. This option will allow US passengers to fly down via the new Southwest/Volaris partnership, maybe get to know the downtown Zocalo and historic districts in Mexico City or Guadalajara (highly recommended), and then take advantage of the spectacular rates being offered by all of Mexico's new breed of discount airlines, such as Volaris. If anybody happens to fly down via the new Southwest/Volaris partnership, be sure to post comments on your flight experience here!

Passing the Torch - Viva La Baja! Blog Has Been Sold

I am happy to report Viva La Baja! Blog is now owned by Sergio Igartua - Los Cabos resident & owner of Grupo Igartua.

Our family now resides in South America and I am immersed in a new online venture - South America Living - Web-full of info for folks wanting to travel or live in the countries Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru & Uruguay. Online soon at www.southamericaliving.com.

An introductory hello from Sergio:

"My name is Sergio Igartua and I’ve been in advertising and marketing for more than 15 years. My career has taken me from the U.S. to Costa Rica, and finally to Mexico where I currently reside.

During those years I’ve had the opportunity to provide creative services to diverse markets such as the U.S. Hispanic market, the Costa Rican and Mexican political arenas and, most recently, the Mexican hospitality market.

I own and operate Grupo Igartua, a travel marketing agency in Los Cabos, Mexico, where I’ve been living for the past 4 years."

Viva La Baja! was a fun project. Highlights of the past few years include: interacting with a lot of cool expats & locals I never would have met or known; learning about environmental issues on the Peninsula and the amazing folks who have worked for years to fight degradation of Baja waters, land & wildlife; writing articles for publications such as MexConnect, Our Mexico & my personal favorite... Sea Watch Mexico - who are doing some incredible work putting an end to illegal fishing & restoring the reefs of the Bay of La Paz with the Observatorio Ciudadano's program. A video about the program can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVqclsGGAZg.

I´m confident Sergio will put all the hard work & information to good use and wish him the best with his future endeavors.

Viva La Baja! & all its inhabitants, Molly

Mexican Fisheries Planning to "Exploit" Resources in Northern Baja

Look-out Northern Baja, Conapesca and CIBNOR are heading your way and have plans to "exploit" your resources by encouraging the harvest of tonns of fish. This is a follow-up post on the Million Dollar Plan. For background information look-over the three previous posts:

1. Baja Fish - How Would You Spend a Million Dollars?
2. The Million Dollar Plan - Who´s in Charge?
3. Update on the Million Dollar Plan

I contacted CIBNOR months ago via email and received an initial reply from a researcher but when I asked for additional information on how they planned to sustainably "exploit" resources in Northern Baja as was posted on their website in regards to Programa Nacional Rector and their assessment that tonns of 'pelagic' fish species are availble to be harvested in Northern Baja waters my contact ended.

One species of pelagic fish - fish that live in what is called the pelagic zone of coastal and ocean (offshore) waters - are Bluefin Tuna whos numbers are severly depleted and near extinction. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna are being considered by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES)for a formal ban on all International Trade due to its endangered status.

This Oct, 2009 article in Scientific American explains the issue in greater detail: "Is the Bluefin Tuna an endangered species".

I wanted to know how they would be harvested as well? Using Drift Gillnets that destroy all ocean creatures in its path, including endangered Baleen whales that annually migrate through Baja waters, that Conapesca vowed to ban in 2008 yet never did?

In addition, the original documents I had reviewed in English are now gone from the website and replaced with false PR statements about the organization claiming: "For the Federal Mexican Government, the CONAPESCA is a strategic tool for taking care of our natural resources and to avoid the overexplotation of marine species."

A carefully orchestrated public 'face' to hide the actions that are going on behind the scenes and that are in the works regarding Programa Rector Nacional and the plans to give the go ahead for commercial fisherman to harvest - they use the word 'exploit' - tonns of fish from Northern Baja waters, including endangered Bluefin Tuna.

They claim not only do these large amounts of fisheries resources exist, but that they can be sustainably taken from Baja waters without negative repercussions. Look-out Northern Baja - CIBNOR and Conapesca are on their way.

Molly, author of Viva La Baja! Relocation & Real Estate Guide

Baja Travel - Taking the Ferry

The previous blog post covered bus travel on the Peninsula: Baja Travel - Riding the Bus. This post gives the basic run-down on riding the ferry - either one of them!

From mainland Mexico you can take a ferry across to Baja from Guaymas, Topolobampo and Mazatlan. Guaymas is located on the mainland in the state of Sonora while Topolobampo and Mazatlan are both in Sinaloa. Websites for all routes are listed below.

Approximate Travel Time and Costs:
The private cabins listed below contain two bunk beds, and may or may not have a private bathroom. Children up to age 11 are half-price on all routes. Infants up to one years of age are free.

Guaymas to Santa Rosalia: approximately 7 hours, $65 USD per person, $75 USD for a private cabin.
Topolobampo to La Paz: approximately 9 hours, 710 pesos ($71 USD) per person, 760 pesos ($76 USD) for a private cabin with bathroom for up to four people.

Mazatlan to La Paz: approximately 18 hours, 800 pesos ($80 USD) per person, 250 pesos ($25 USD) for a private cabin for up to four people; bathroom separate. We´ve traveled this route twice, the cabins are simple with two bunk beds and a window. The boat is large and the ride smooth, you will most likely never notice a wave much less get seasick.

All three ferry systems have food and bar service, car and overnight accommodations. Dogs are allowed but must be in a kennel (or kept in the car) and cannot enter the cabins but stay outside on deck. We traveled with our medium sized Rat Terrier this way and he did just fine. No one bothered him, I was allowed to take him out of the kennel to walk on the deck - was just not permitted to enter the cabin area. Staff were helpful and seemed to keep an eye on him as well.

There is a full-bar on deck that has a large T.V. screen and shows videos, children are welcome. Meals are nothing special, very basic Mexican fare but an assortment of snacks are available for purchase.

More Information & Websites:
For more information on Baja Ferries, including the cost to transport a vehicle, click here to view.

The Santa Rosalia to Guaymas route has an additional website: click here to view.

Happy travels, Molly
Author of Viva La Baja! Relocation & Real Estate Guide

Baja Travel - Riding the Bus

Buy your boleto (ticket) at the taquilla (no, that is not Tequila!) and be on your way. First-class bus service in Baja is comfortable (movies & commodes), efficient (minus unavoidable road construction delays), and low-cost. Just be prepared for varied service and bus stations. No two are alike.

There are two primary bus companies serving the Baja California Peninsula: ABC and Aguila. ABC (Autotransportes de la Baja California) operates in the Peninsula from Tijuana to Los Cabos. Aguila serves travelers in Baja California Sur venturing from Guerrero Negro to the Los Cabos... and back! ABC has a website, currently in Spanish-only: http://www.abc.com.mx/.

Baja California Sur

In La Paz, anyone will give you directions to the main bus terminal (estacion del autobus mejor), on the malecon with: Sea of Cortez view, air conditioning and magazine and snack kiosk. If purchasing a premier plus ticket to ride on Peninsula Ejectivo, you also have a private room with computer terminals at your service – top of the line serving a direct route from La Paz to Los Cabos (only).

Wandering the off-streets a mile or so away, you may come across the less-fancy bus station with ATP (Autotransportes La Paz) service. First class busses as well but at less cost. ATP charges around $17 USD to Cabo San Lucas whereas Aguila on the malecon charges around $14 USD. Premier plus service will cost you a bit more.

Routes vary from one company to the other. ATP has no service to the East Cape, only to Todos Santos and other towns in the West Cape. As well, when you pay for a taquilla (ticket) one-way to a town, do not expect the same price heading back in the other direction. On ATP, a one-way fare to Cabo San Lucas from La Paz is around 150 pesos, but returning to La Paz will cost you close to 120 pesos.

Baja California norte

Two terminals for Tijuana – old and new. Old downtown terminal at Calle Comercio and Avenida Madero that serves local bus lines. The Central Bus Terminal (Central de Autobuses), with all the bells and whistles you would expect, is located at the corner of Lazaro Cardenas and Alamar.


ABC covers the entire Peninsula. You can take the red eye from Tijuana and arrive in Cabo San Lucas in approximately 24 hours. Cost is approximately $170 USD. All first-class buses are comfortably air-conditioned, have bathrooms (bring your own TP just in case), multiple ceiling-mounted T.V. screens for videos (often in English, once we had one in French… go figure) and reclinable seating.

From the U.S., tourists or North American escapees can tap into the entire system at the main Greyhound bus terminal in downtown San Diego and ride across the border into Tijuana.

Hot Tip: Planning a bus trip? Buy Dramamine, even if you have never taken an aspirin in your life. This goes triple if traveling with children. Also, even in the heat of summer bring a blanket. It is not uncommon for air-conditioning to be set on high and left there even as icicles form on the windows.

In summary, it is hard to know what to expect from one bus terminal to the next. Some have snacks and drinks available only, others a selection of these plus sandwiches and magazines as well as tourist trinkets. Then you stop through Los Barriles expecting a cold soda, and find a brick shell of a building with no amenities, only a primitive baño outback. Each town is different, plan ahead accordingly.

As well, bus drivers may stop for a few minutes at a snack kiosk when on a long stretch, but often times he or she will cruise straight through to the next scheduled stop. Unpredictability seems to be law in Baja.

Molly
Author of Viva La Baja! Relocation & Real Estate Guide

Learning Spanish in Baja - For Adults

Enough with the fish already. How about information for those who want to travel to Baja and work on their Spanish language skills?

A previous blog post covered Spanish language learning for children: Learning the Language - For Kids. This post is to offer a few options for adults who want to take Spanish courses.

The newest kid on the block in southern Baja is Spanish in Cabo who opened their doors in April of this year in the town of San Jose del Cabo. They offer competively priced immersion, group and private classes for all ages levels and abilities.

In addition, you can continue with your Spanish courses with Spanish in Cabo after the few weeks of fun in the sun is over via the Internet. They have an online program that allows you to take private one-on-one lessons from any location in the world with just a SKYPE connection and email account.

La Paz is a hotbed for Spanish language learning with multiple schools to choose from. A couple for you to contact for more information are Se Habla La Paz, S.C. and the Centro de Idiomas, Cultura y Comunicacion.

If traveling to La Paz for a language learning adventure, make sure to take a boat trip to Isla Espirito Santos Island to jump in the water and swim amongst the sea lions. It is an unforgettable experience.

Northern Baja has too many choices to adequately cover here - do an independent Google search online to wade through a multitude of options at all price ranges. For a quick start you can check out these schools, located in Ensenada and San Felipe respectively: Baja California Language College and the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California.

Buena suerte! Molly
www.vivalabaja.com

Baja Hurricane Resources & Relief for Hurricane Jimena

Hurricane Jimena lessened in strength before hitting Baja as a Category 1 Hurricane but still unleashed plenty of fury with wind and rain, causing catastrophic destruction in the central Baja area (Ciudad Constitution, San Carlos, Mulege, Loreto and other), and taking the life of an elderly Mexican man. Hurricane season runs officially from June 1st to November 30th. Most storms occur in the months of August and September.

A tropical depression is the first pre-hurricane stage, with wind speeds of 38 mph. The next phase pre-hurricane is a tropical storm, with winds from 39-73 mph. Tropical storms are given names. The flooding from the heavy rains of a tropical storm can wreck havoc of catastrophic degree in an area, such as what occurred in the town of Mulege from Tropical Storm John in September of 2006 and now again in 2009 - flash floods from rainfall plus winds courtesy of Hurricane Jimena.

When a tropical storm’s constant wind speed reaches above 73 mph, you have a hurricane on your hands and should be prepared to evacuate if it becomes necessary. You can read a list of Baja California Peninsula hurricanes from years prior to 1949 up until September, 2007 (Hurricane Henriette) online courtesy of Wikipedia - List of Huricanes.

To keep up-to-date on hurricane and storm activity, one online resource of many is The National Weather Service-National Hurricane Center at: www.nhc.noaa.gov. A more local resource is The Baja Insider – an eZine covering Baja California norte primarily. You can sign-up to receive news updates regularly via email, including during hurricane season. Visit their website for more information: www.bajainsider.com.

When a storm hits, local reports from Baja residents and travelers posted on popular list servs & message boards such as La Paz Gringos and Baja Nomad is often the best and most accurate information.

You can view the posts on Baja Nomad without having to sign-up or log-in. Go to the website, click on 'forums' and select a category. Members of Baja Nomad are currently organizing relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Jimena. Click on the heading 'General Baja Discussion' and you will see a thread title "Hurricane Relief Supplies". La Paz Gringos has information on where to drop-off donations in the La Paz area.

These efforts by expats are in addition to the support of local communities, both Mexican and foreign. The Mexican government sets-up shelters, provides relief supplies and aid, including protection for property owners from looters with patrols by the Mexican army as well as other support. When people are displaced from homes and in a state of emergency through no fault of their own, every little bit helps.

Molly
www.vivalabaja.com

Vigilance Program - Where to Report Fishing Violations

The last Viva La Baja! post gave the basics of the new (and first) citizen-funded and run vigilance program in La Paz: Hot News - Commercial Fishing Vigilance Program. For a more in-depth account of the program, including its origins in 2007, visit the Sea Watch Mexico website and read the article, Mexico's First Citizen-Funded And Run Vigilance Program Starts.

If you are not much of an online reader, and just want the hard, cold facts given to you in a viewable and informative YouTube video... look no further. Click here and wait a minute or two for the five minute video "Hookah Divers Are Killing The Sea" to load onto your desktop. You won´t be disappointed and most likely overwhelmed with emotion at the unecessary and all-encompassing destruction that has been, and is continuing to be, inflicted on the Sea of Cortez and its inhabitants, specifically in this video - species of fish that call the reefs home.

Illegal activities can be reported via email to Sea Watch at reports@seawatch.org. If you would like to participate more fully and/or become a member of Plataforma, please go to this Web page to sign-up: Observatorio Ciudadano. The page contains detailed information on the program and how participants can help stop the massive destruction being inflicted on the Sea of Cortez by commercial fishermen who - simply put - could care less.

As quoted from Sea Watch, "The goal of Plataforma is to get the vast majority of honest fishermen, both commercial and sports fishermen, as well as the cruising community involved in detecting and reporting illegal acts, thereby creating a net of concerned people with the common goal of protecting the Bay."

Go Sea Watch and Plataforma.

Molly, author of Viva La Baja! Relocation & Real Estate Guide to the Baja California Peninsula. Available to order at www.vivalabaja.com.

Hot News - Commercial Fishing Vigilance Program

A new 'Pescadores vigilantes' program has begun in Baja California Sur in an attempt to put an end to illegal commercial fishing interests (not local hook and line fishermen) in the Sea of Cortez. The program allows anyone to report illegal fishing activities anonymously without fear of retribution, either in person, by phone or via email. The illegal activity will then be published in the La Paz paper - every 20 days - that lists the boats stopped, the denuncias filed, what the authorities have done to date and the final resolution (fines issued).

The program is being funded by Sea Watch and it´s supporters at an estimated $8000 USD per month. Here is some background information provided by Mike McGettigan - founder of SeaWatch.

"We have been very busy starting a civil society sponsored and run vigilance program. It is under the banner of "Plataforma" and is being funded in it's first 90 days of operation by Sea Watch. The group "Plataforma" which Sea Watch helped start is now quite strong and is supported by Mexico's largest NGO's."

"We have always felt you have to start with Vigilance and enforcement. Otherwise you start by setting up marine protected areas, marine parks, sanctuaries, etc. and they immediately become the private fishing grounds of the strongest illegal fishermen. There are fishermen that fight (and pay) to have the rights to fish in the protected areas."

Things are off to a successful start - on the first nocturnal Vigilance program of Plataforma in the Bay of La Paz (June 22-24) they caught 8 boats fishing illegally. The illegal activity will then be published in the La Paz paper as mentioned above.

Mike states, "It will be a score card that forces the authorities to do their job which is to arrest boats fishing illegally and prosecute them."

Good news for Baja and all Sea of Cortez marine life.

Next blog entry - Where & how to report illegal activities.

Molly, author of Viva La Baja! Relocation & Real Estate Guide to the Baja California Peninsula. Available to order at www.vivalabaja.com.

Update on the Million Dollar Plan

I didn´t want to continue writing about Programa Rector Nacional without giving the primary Mexican organization in-charge - CIBNOR - a fair chance of responding and offering information about the program such as what has been accomplished, what is being worked on and what the end goals are. To read a previous background post on the Million Dollar Plan and CIBNOR, click here: The Million Dollar Plan - Who´s In Charge?.

I tried various contacts through their website and was eventually referred to the program called Ecologia Pesquera - supposedly that has folks working on Programa Rector Nacional. The information page on the CIBNOR website in English is located here: Fisheries Ecology. A short email was sent to the director of the program (maybe too short) that now needs a bit of follow-through and possibly a search for additional contacts and sources as I have yet to recieve any reply.

I was just hoping for a little information on how things are going as many are rooting for their success in using these funds to change the disastrous direction of the current state of things (over-fishing creating near-extinct species such as bluefin tuna), create sustainable fisheries laws and protect the future of the Sea of Cortez and all its inhabitants.

As new developments arise I will make new posts. Until then, we can all keep our fingers crossed.

Molly, author of Viva La Baja! Relocation Guide to the Baja California Peninsula, available to order at www.vivalabaja.com.

The Million Dollar Plan - Who´s in Charge?

This is part II of a series on the 'Million Dollar Plan'. For background information read part I: Baja Fish - How Would You Spend a Million Dollars?

CIBNOR has been granted the contract to develop the PROGRAMA RECTOR NACIONAL: DIAGNÓSTICO Y PLANIFICACIÓN REGIONAL DE LA PESCA Y ACUACULTURA EN MEXICO E INCIDENCIA EN EL ESTADO DE BCS through CONAYCT. So the first question I asked myself is, "Who is CIBNOR"? Until researching online, I hadn´t a clue. And thanks to CIBNOR and their extremely well-done and informative website that includes an English version ( click here to view) I was able to gather the basics of their mission and purpose. I hope for additional posts about the proposed PROGRAMA RECTOR NACIONAL to be able to contact and communicate with someone at CIBNOR directly.

CIBNOR, or The Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C., (Northwestern Center for Biological Reasearch) is a research center whose mission is to contribute to the welfare of society through scientific research, technological innovation, and human resource development in sustainable management of natural resources.

Quoted from the website: "CIBNOR was established in 1975 (initially as CIB - Center for Biological Research) by the Government of the State of Baja California Sur and CONACYT (National Council for Science and Technology) to promote the development of science and technology in the area."

Specialties that biologists and graduate students perform research in are the following: Agronomy, Algae, Aquaculture, Biochemistry, Biodiversity, Bioethics, Biotechnology, Birds, Cacti, Climate, Coasts, Computer Science, Conservation / Restoration, Contamination, Crustaceans, Ecological Regulation, Ecology, Ecophysiology, Education, Engineering / Artificial Intelligence, Environmental Economy, Environmental Impace, Enzymes, Fish, Fisheries, Genetics, Geographic Information Systems, Geology, Health, Hydrology, Marine Botany, Marine Organisms, Marine Turtles, Mastozoology, Microbiology, Mollusks, Nutrition, Oceanography, Oxidative Stress... to name just a few. Alphabetized topics continue to "W", ending with Wild fauna.

Scientific studies and articles on all these topics and others are posted on their website: Specialties. It seems there are more than a few very highly qualified folks in charge of the Million Dollar Plan. Can they get the results needed to protect the Sea of Cortez and all its marine inhabitants?

Molly, author of Viva La Baja! Relocation Guide to the Baja California Peninsula, available to order at www.vivalabaja.com.